HONOLULU — The Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship between Stanford and Vanderbilt at the University of Hawaii was called off on Saturday because of positive coronavirus cases within the Stanford program.

It was the second Christmas game in the tournament to be called off; host Hawaii’s seventh-place game against Northern Iowa scheduled for 10:30 a.m. was nixed on Friday evening when UH pulled out citing a lack of available players due to COVID and injuries.

The announcement about the championship came at about 2:20 p.m. Saturday, about an hour before its scheduled tipoff.

Vanderbilt will be declared the tournament champion, ESPN said during its third-place broadcast between BYU and Liberty. Four players within the Stanford program tested positive for the coronavirus, according to broadcaster Roxy Bernstein. Vanderbilt is the first SEC champion in the 12-year history of the DHC.

It marks the second straight year without a title game at the DHC. The entire tournament was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic threat.

The 2021 EasyPost Hawaii Bowl was canceled on Thursday when the Hawaii football program also cited a lack of player availability because of COVID and injuries.